ldrcycles wrote:... They look cool with the bullmoose bars and super laid back angles but the Malvern Star felt WEIRD to ride.

You sort of have to take into context where the modern sport of MTBing was at in its evolution in the early 80s. There's a great movie around called "Klunkerz" if you can find it. Basically the modern sport evolved out of some 1970s Hippies in California bombing down hilly dirt roads - not technical single track. They were doing it on on beefed up old, cheap 1930s & 1940s kids cruiser bikes. These bikes had slack angles with long wheelbases and most importantly clearances for fat, wide tyres. The early rigid frame MTBs like the Malvern & Raliegh pictured just now were just an extension of this. I can see why technical riders don't care for them, but I still think they're great as cruisers and urban runabouts. Here's my kerbside find that got my interest in the history.... I swear I could ride it no-handed whilst performing the upper half of the Maori Haka and it wouldn't waiver. The geometry and weight of it makes it track like a super-tanker.

Charlie Kelly was one of the guys who started it all. He was one of the instigators of the original Repack race. In the late '70's he started a bike company to make off-road bikes. His business partner was a guy named Gary Fisher (yes, that Gary Fisher). They applied to register the company name ‘Mountain Bikes’, but their lawyer stuffed up the application. This was pretty much the first use of the term 'Mountain Bike'.

The frames were made by Tom Ritchey (Ritchey Bikes). Many of the parts on the bikes were imported from Italy by their friend Mike Sinyard, who had just set up a company called Specialized Bicycle Components.

There is lots of interesting reading and great pictures on that website.

Here's a nice little feature TV article from the late 70s, obviously when the popularity was first starting to snowball and the media was getting interested.

You'll note one bike which appears a bit throughout the video, a diamond frame with an extra stay or spar stretching from the headtube to the rear dropouts. I may stand corrected, but this (or these) bikes were some of the very first built specifically for the purpose. Charlie Kelly's site talks about them, I am sure. They might be the Tom Ritchey bikes - not 100% myself without cross checking.

- KymStuck in traffic? You ARE traffic.Sick of arguing with idiots on the internet? Well, do I have news for you!

HappyHumber wrote:You sort of have to take into context where the modern sport of MTBing was at in its evolution in the early 80s. There's a great movie around called "Klunkerz" if you can find it. Basically the modern sport evolved out of some 1970s Hippies in California bombing down hilly dirt roads - not technical single track. ......

If you've got a Dimmeys [kinda like a Crazy Clarks or a Mad Harrys or a Mental Marks....ok, I made that last one up] near you, you'll likely be able to find this dvd for $1 if you get in before the rush, or possibly a doubling of the price. I snaffled one over xmas but haven't found time to watch it yet.

And if you happen to lean that way.....they also had a ton of football dvds [including for example a 4 disc set on International Football Rivalries or The Official MU History 1878-2008] for the same, crazy, never to be repeated, ridiculous price.

Have been looking for an older MTB to ride around the park with my kids. This one came my way and thought it might be of interest to this thread. I don't know much about it and there doesn't seem to be a lot of info about this bike on the net, but it is a Lotus Pegasus. Year of manufacture I don't know.

I gave it a degrease, lubed the chain and put some air in the tyres and it all seems to work. Could use some new cables for the shifters though and it has a bit of rust here and there. An ugly duckling for sure but worth saving!

Wow! An integral shoulder hoik spot at the apex of the top and seat tube. I'd previously only seen straps mounted here on diamond framed MTBs. Probably says sometning about the frame quality and weight though

- KymStuck in traffic? You ARE traffic.Sick of arguing with idiots on the internet? Well, do I have news for you!

What makes you say that? My first MTB (a Bennet thingamy) in the early 80's with a similarly raked double crown fork. When it sagged under pressure it was replaced with a chrome single crown of similar rake and mass!